1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to instruments and more particularly to an improved instrument for measuring the medial/lateral symmetry of a horse's hoof.
2. Prior Art
Horseshoeing is considered an art rather than a science since traditionally the bottom of a horse's foot is merely eyeballed by the horseshoer( farrier) in order to determine how flat it is and in what plane. Thereafter, the farrier makes any corrections by peeling, cutting, filing or otherwise removing part of the bottom of the hoof before nailing the horseshoe in place against the corrected bottom of the hoof. However, errors are frequent and can lead to wear of the horseshoe and damage to the horse's leg and foot.
It is particularly important to be able to measure the extent of side to side balance of the horse's foot. This is technically referred to as the medial/ lateral balance. Any imbalance detected must be corrected so that the foot strikes the ground flat and balanced. A balanced foot assures that there will be optimum support up through the rest of the leg's bony column. A foot that is in medial/ lateral balance will help align the horse's joints, thus exposing them to less stress, rotation and deviation and provide them with optimum flexion. Medial/lateral balance is very difficult to detect and correct merely by eyeballing.
Although the instrument of U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,148 helps to determine the flatness of a horse's hoof and to make corrections therein, there remains a need for an instrument which will precisely and simply determine medial/ lateral balance and enable the farrier to correct any imbalance with precision. Such a device should be simple, accurate, easy to build and use, and also should be durable and inexpensive.